A piece of good news on the architectural preservation front: Trinity Cathedral (featured in J.G. Ballard's ) is finally reopening, according to a nice feature on the LA Times. The church was supposed to have finished renovation before Expo, but unfortunately wasn't able to make the deadline. We're excited to check it out. More after the jump: more ›

Besides all the subways and road renovations, one of the things we can look forward to come Expo time is... cleaner water? According to officials from the local water bureau, the city is about to fulfill a three-year water-purification plan that will produce cleaner rivers and lakes by the end of next year. Since 2000, the city has established 50 sewage plants capable of processing 672 tons of water each day and earlier this year, they began an anti-pollution drive targeting 33,000 local small rivers. All of which means: we might actually be able to touch Suzhou Creek's water one day without turning into slime. more ›